MEETING MINUTES

WNA General Meeting Agenda

07/07/2026

Nancy Flynn  •  Classic Foods  •  07/07/2026

AT A GLANCE

Please make every effort to join us In Person: Classic Foods, 817 NE Madrona St

6:30-7:40 General Business

Board and Community Introductions (5 minutes)

Approve June meeting minutes (5 minutes)

Joy Keen makes a motion to approve the June minutes. Melissa Jura seconds. All are in favor. The June 2026 minutes are approved.

PZ makes a motion to add Joy to the WNA bank account. Keith seconds. All are in favor and the motion passes. In addition, Brezil Ponec, the new Farmers Market employee, needs access to the Woodlawn Farmers Market (WFM) bank account. PZ makes a motion, Keith seconds and the motion passes.

Presentation by Elana Pirtle-Guiney (5 minutes)

Elana Pirtle-Guiney noted the hot topics in front of the council right now. The budget has recently been mostly finished. Some jobs programs were brought back. About 50% of cuts have been restored. Full funding has been restored to summer programs and some after-school programs. There continue to be big question about Moda Center—do we want it to be a more activated space? The proposed cuts to the PDX Street Response have mostly been restored. Unfortunately, there have been cuts to the PS3 program, i.e., unarmed officers who take reports. Pocket parks are a way for the city to alleviate crowding and minimal access to backyard spaces and biodiversity as the city gets dense. If we want this to be part of our vision for the future, we need to start purchasing properties now. No cuts to PBOT at this time. Fair amount of cuts to communication, shelter programs, and some in parks including periodic furloughs and cuts to field maintenance.

Elana discussed issues around cottage cluster construction and the laxness around the tree code enforcement by the city. One neighbor at the meeting expressed concern about the city having a just cause for firing policy as more folks are not covered by the NLRB. So much time has been spent on the budget because the vote is gridlocked at 6-6. Elana was the last one at the table on these negotiations. She is working on getting more compromise. The process is exhausting!

Plaza Updates – John Tudisco (5 minutes)

Sometime in the next month the city will be repainting the Woodlawn Yards section and then the pedestrian plaza will be open to the public. PBOT will be delivering chairs, tables and chair sets, planters, and signage to the site as well.

NNO/POP – August Party in Woodlawn Park – PZ/Joy (10 minutes)

PZ has submitted the application for the NNIO event. We need to have a vote on funding. PZ has a hot food vendor from the farmer’s market who will come and serve food for around $1000. We need $650 for music and $350 for kids entertainment and face painting. The band is one from the Farmer’s Market; they play swing music and old standards. NNO is August 4, 5 to 8 pm. Conditional funding is put on the back burner for now. PZ makes a move to approve this NNO budget. Joy seconds and the motion passes.

Woodlawn Farmers Market Updates –  Outdoor Season every Saturday June-October 9am-1pm.  PZ/Keith (5 minutes)

Updates—The WFM has hired two leads for this summer!  More volunteers are still needed especially for the closing shift. Volunteer with us – sign up online – https://signup.com/go/bPHsYZf – Community Table Sign Ups are now live: https://forms.gle/fnTFd1Zr6A1fUaMg6

Community Topics

Open mic – please prepare your topics at 2-3 minutes with 2-3 minutes for questions (5-6 minutes total) – It’s your turn to activate in Woodlawn!  (15 minutes total)

*Conclusion of neighborhood meeting, feel free to stay to socialize!*

7:40-7:45 Social Time

• Meet your neighbors! Connect with the community, presenters, and others active in the Woodlawn area. Skipped this month because of Elana Pirtle-Guiney presentation and Q & A.

7:45-8:00 Board Business

Chair Updates – PZ

PZ proposes an additional meeting for the WNA Board to discuss strategic directions, planning and projects. He will circulate an e-mail to select a date and time, likely a Wednesday or Thursday evening at a Woodlawn neighborhood business or restaurant.

Vice Chair Updates – Joy

Joy has set up Give Butter accounts for WNA. We have a lot to learn about how Give Butter works. Big question—how do we want to do fundraising campaigns? PZ wants to  keep it simple, with the goal of small contributions. The idea is to create one QR code that can then be used for everything. Once this is set up, we will need to go into the drive and delete all the old QR codes.

Treasurer’s Report – Melissa

We have $3013.28 in the bank which is more than we had last year. The only expense this month was a $14 charge for Google, an increase over what we have paid in the past.

Land Use and Transportation Report – Anjala

Land Use committee needs two people willing to work with Anjala on the NE 15^th and Lombard situation. John Y. has some ideas about how that intersection could be reconfigured. NECN has an ABCs of Land Use & Transportation Part 2 presentation available. It has been recorded for easy viewing. There are now bonuses available

for developers who are working on fully accessible places. Also, we should send our list of cluster cottage issues to Elana Pirtle-Guiney’s staffer. James Yargar is interesting in the housing cluster and tree preservation issues. Question: Can we get a recording of the hearing about the NE Liberty neighborhood tree in which it was said that saving trees is “aspirational”?

Re: Lloyd Center impending demolition. NECN supports its preservation especially the ice-skating rink. Anjala testified about Lloyd Center to the city council.

Secretary’s Report – Nancy

Nancy was unable to attend the meeting in person. Her home internet went out during the meeting, of all things, so there is no Secretary’s report. Nancy did send electronic letters to Thelma Diggs about resigning from the WNA board and to Shirley Minor about resigning as the WNA NECN rep but hasn’t heard back from either of them yet.

Outreach and Community Engagement Report – Linde

Linde would love to get help with Facebook. Apparently there is a “wrong” one out there that hasn’t had posts since 2019. Joy found the current 2025 version.

There are too many bots in mail chip. We need to ask Shelly Caldwell if she can add a captcha to prevent bots from the website.

Give Butter does not manage newsletters, FYI.

NECN update – Anjala

Team is functioning well now. NECN needs a new representative from WNA. Shirley  Minor needs to submit a resignation letter. (See Secretary’s Report above.) All four district leadership teams are collaborating. The NECN strategic plan should bring in roughly $100k or more in funding. All neighborhoods are working together on this,

Questions? Email info@gowoodlawn.com